


Immortality

by Blue_Hood



Series: Power Prompts [13]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Inhumans (TV 2017), Iron Man (Movies), Sherlock (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Alternate Universe - X-Men Fusion, Betrayal, Charles Xavier in a Wheelchair, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Eye of Agamatto, Family Secrets, Friends to Enemies, Good Loki (Marvel), Grief/Mourning, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Hydra (Marvel), Immortal Tony Stark, Immortality, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Implied/Referenced Mind Control, Infinity Stones, Jealousy, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Loki (Marvel) Has Issues, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki's Scepter (Marvel), Long Lost/Secret Relatives, M/M, Magic, Magic-Users, Magical Artifacts, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Minor Frigga/Odin (Marvel), Mutants, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Compliant, Odin (Marvel) Gets Called Out, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, Odin (Marvel)'s Parenting, Odinsleep (Marvel), Old Friends, Past Relationship(s), Post-Betrayal, Powerful Charles Xavier, Regret, Telepathic Bond, Telepathic Sex, Telepathy, Xavier Institute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:40:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27337318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: Expansion of Chapter 42 of What Superpower Should Tony Stark Have?What does it mean that Tony Stark is older than the mutant race?
Relationships: Frigga | Freyja/Odin (Marvel), Jane Foster/Thor, Jean Grey/Scott Summers, Mycroft Holmes & Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Tony Stark/Charles Xavier
Series: Power Prompts [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986601
Comments: 83
Kudos: 42





	1. The Conference

Tony Stark was his current name but he had many, a side effect that comes with living forever, he even lost count of the lifetimes. "As the normal life expectancy has grown, don't be so hard on yourself." He playfully glared at his telepathic boyfriend. "Could you focus on the present, mate?" The joke made him smile, mate was for friends and they hadn't been just friends since Charles became legal. "Y'know, I find it odd that you even care about that. What's the worst that could happen? Kurt kills you? Unlikely."

"I find it odd that Raven let her son be named Kurt and I'm half convinced she named him."

"Raven- you're distracting me."

"Isn't that my job?" Charles had no feeling in his legs, which made his needs unique. He needed a lover who would let him use his power to feel how they felt, otherwise he could not fully enjoy intimacy.

"Focus, Anthony, they're almost here."

"Right," Tony took his seat beside Charles' chair, leaving the ends of the table for Erik and Steve. Scott would likely sit between Raven and Jean on one side, glaring at Erik the entire time and ignoring Logan taking Storm's place on Jean's other side while the Avengers filled up the rest of the table, ending with Bruce beside Tony. He watched without amusement as his prediction came true.

"You're early," observed Natasha, taking her place flanking Steve, "You're never early."

"I was giving the Danger Room an upgrade, the seniors are testing it out right now."

Charles sighed at the excuse "Anthony!"

Tony huffed, "Fine." He looked at Natasha "Do me a favor and shoot me."

"I'm not going to-"

"Fine, be difficult. Charles?" The telepath briefly overtook the assassin and made her fire three shots at the inventor, all headshots. "Thank you for your cooperation." Tony grinned at Charles "And you for the consideration."

Clint broke the stunned silence "What the hell?"

Tony grinned even bigger, asking the room "Who has seen either Torchwood or Doctor Who?" A few hands went up "I'm like Jack Harkness, except not from the future. Charles and I still can't figure out how old I actually am but I definitely predate the mutant race and lack an X-gene so I'm not a mutant, least not that kind."

"You're immortal?" said Bruce.

"Yup."

"But the circuit board when you were four, can you alter your physical age?"

"No, I don't age, period. Okay, that's not strictly true, I've aged a few times but it's a very painful process that enables me to blend in as human lifespans grow. To say the least, I don't recommend it. I don't recommend immortality either but be glad you age the way you do and not all at once after centuries of stagnation." Tony locked eyes with Clint "We can do Q&A later but you will not shoot me, understood."

"Yes sir," the words slipped out, shocking Clint. "How'd you do that?"

"Again, I have been alive for over a thousand years. I have commanded armies, advised kings, lived through more than you can imagine. I suppose you could say I turned a thousand year stare on you or something like that." Glancing at Thor, he said "I've even seen humanity turn away from magic towards science, seen all kinds of evolution," looking between Thor and Sam, he finished with "And subjugation like you wouldn't believe. Now, shall we start this meeting as planned? We can only plead plausible deniability for so long." He turned to Charles, "If you wouldn't mind." The telepath, who already knew Tony's secret, got the meeting on track. They managed a successful conference between the two major mutant factions and the Avengers, Charles validating what Tony said he saw on the other side of the portal, assuring that he was not making it up, so they could prepare. Tony quipped "Attention is the last thing I seek, makes not aging all the more noticeable," when the others' reasons for disputing his claims came to light "And I know war better than any here, it never ends with a single battle. False surrenders are a spy's best friend so Stuttgart doesn't count, nor does the brotherly fight in the forest. The Helicarrier might, if it officially happened and SHIELD didn't try to nuke us, blurring the line on which side they supported."

Bruce couldn't resist asking "Would a nuclear explosion hurt you?"

"Hurt, yes. I'm like Jack Harkness, I feel the pain that comes with death but the usual release from life eludes me. I keep breathing, even with both lungs collapsed. I have been exposed to, succumbed to, and survived many terrible diseases that you have never heard of and most of the infectious diseases that you have. I would survive a nuclear blast the same way, being destroyed by it and living anyway. Shall we focus?"

After the meeting, Magneto and Mystique made their escape, Scott noticed Logan and Storm had switched seats and glared at the former while the latter tried not to laugh, and the Avengers acted like elementary schoolers, shouting questions at Tony. "Please, be respectful to our hosts. Wolverine, I know for a fact, has ultra-sensitive hearing." The calm way Tony spoke was borderline disturbing, like nothing mattered which might be close to the truth, he had lived through so much that things probably lost a lot of meaning. Sam was the first to raise his hand while his teammates debated who would go first. "Mr. Wilson."

"What's the worst part about being immortal?"

"Tough call, it really comes down to the kind of person you are, one man's Hell is another's Heaven. For me, and I suppose eventually most would feel this way, it's the lack of an end. You experience and bear witness to so much awfulness and it never ends. You can do nothing as humanity repeats its mistakes, do nothing as everything you care about is lost, everyone you love dies and you are left unchanged and unable to enact change because every time you tell someone you are immortal, you run the risk of losing them after they overcome their disbelief and that's a good outcome. I have had many near-death experiences brought about by trusting the wrong person, by giving someone my trust in order to gain theirs. The worst part of living forever is the forever part, that includes what I must do to keep my secret. I have been dissected several times, each in a different era which changes how they take me apart and whether they bother to put me back together. Abolition is terrible for that, not to-" He sighed and tried a different tact, "After I'd been dissected, I've had loyal slaves speed up my healing process by returning my internal organs to their proper places. I guess there are some benefits to the emptiness that can easily overtake an immortal. Things that bring others joy have lost their value to me. I distinctly remember, before abolition went into effect, buying slaves as part of blending in then letting them do whatever they wanted as long as my house was maintained. I didn't bother hiring a slave master, didn't bother with cabins. The estate was maintained, I couldn't starve to death if I tried and I didn't need anything. Freaked them out, both the slaves and the other slave owners, especially when I kicked a man out of my house for smacking one of the slaves but I didn't see a point in that abuse, there was no way out for either of us, why make each other miserable? It's how I had such loyal slaves to save me when someone realized my house had a master but no mistress. I did enjoy- well actually that's a bit of a long story. One time after I'd been taken, the man who arranged it bought up a bunch of my slaves but left the property to disarray. This kid got away when the collectors came to seize my assets and managed to make it on his own and find me. He got tough, evading the white men and negro dogs; which were attack dogs trained to go after escaped slaves; and when he found me, he killed the guy who was working on me. I was alive enough to talk him through part of putting me back together, he had to figure a lot of it out on his own and probably took a few tries judging by the amount of dead men who were there when I was better. Anyway, getting to the story, I went to the estate of the man who arranged my capture and bought a lot of my living, breathing assets, some had been killed by his harsh treatment. My savior got the house slaves out while I trapped the owner, his family, the slave drivers, their sons; and this guy actually had a few slave masters which was kind of weird if my memory serves and there's no guarantee it does; I trapped them all in the house. Once they were locked in, the slaves on the property turned the building into a pyre and burned it down. We moved back into my estate, taking their weapons with us, and life returned to normal, except people avoided my house like it was haunted because they kinda thought I was possessed or something but no one bothered us. I admit, I enjoyed burning that damn place down but even then, it was fleeting thing."

"Wow." Sam said "You don't really feel anymore?"

"No, that's- life without end can cause a sense of detachment but I've learned to seek out things to care about for my own sanity." He turned his gaze on Clint, who slipped his weapon under the table like a teenager hiding his phone. "Y'know, I learned archery when it was the only long-range weapon available, I think. Who else has a question?" They followed Sam's example and raised their hands.

Tony chose Bruce, who asked "Have you ever run tests on your power?"

"No but life has taught me enough. I can't die or be killed, I don't age often, but for the most part, I'm human. I still feel physical pain and emotions, no matter how much I wish I didn't, how much easier it would be if I didn't." He looked around "I've had children, they die like everyone else, it's not genetic. Although, I suppose I might be guilty of accidental incest, seeing as I could definitely be a lot of people's ancestor, I dunno. My power is not dying and rarely aging, how do you test that aside from surviving almost every murder method imaginable and a thousand or so plagues? Hmm?"

"Okay. Are vampires real?"

"I dunno, there's a bit of truth in every lie and what is fiction but an enjoyable, drawn out lie."

"Poetic."

"Next." They actually went around with questions, the X-Men asking a few before the Avengers left. To be honest, Tony figured he felt things but not as deeply as those who live normal lives. With his immortality secret out, he caught flak for cradle robbing Charles but simply pointing out that he was old enough to be anyone's ancestor put an end to those jokes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bit about Tony growing occasionally is connected to Charles' opening line about human lifespans growing. I imagine the only way an immortal could blend in is if they were either freakishly tall for their era and in good health when they stopped aging or if their bodies have a delayed reaction that lets them play catch up with the rest of humanity. For this story, I went with the latter. Let me know what you think.


	2. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has a ship name for Charles/Tony lemme know

Charles was blessed to have Tony with him, they both knew it. They didn't have to be doing anything for the immortal to allow Charles into his mind, he welcomed the telepath with proverbial open arms. They didn't have to be doing anything period. They could be sitting doing nothing for long stretches of time, although Charles was usually exploring Tony's memories during these stretches. Everything he had lived through, it was like something out of a movie but Charles also knew where the lines were in this relationship so he never voiced that thought. Sometimes he felt like he took everything in this relationship and gave nothing back but Tony knew how to read people and always countered those thoughts with his own. Taking is exactly what he wanted Charles to do, take away the pain, the haunting of his past. Charles was very adept at building psychic barriers and could use those to block out the worst parts of Tony's memories, making them inaccessible without the telepath choosing to lower the walls. Tony also found Charles very attractive, his immortality had the side effect of wearing away cultural ideas on beauty. He believed in pretty and toxic more than sugar and spice and everything nice. Beauty truly was within for him, even though his occasional bout of aging had the added benefit of erasing the scars of his past and Tony had gotten very good at limiting the damage to his body as most damage had to heal at or near human rates, including scars.

After their conference, Tony treated his boyfriend by dragging him out of the school, leaving it in the capable hands of the X-Men, and taking him to Stark Mansion where there were no minds nearby except for their own. "Y'know Erik probably already knows about us from the times the X-Men got their act together and stormed his camps to rescue you."

"Erik and I still laugh about that," replied Charles with a laugh. Tony had gone behind his back to arrange a weekend away.

"Not a weekend, Spring Break is next week and the Avengers are scheduled to bring the Fantastic Four with them for a superhero boot camp."

"Is that what they're calling it?" Then his words register "We're not going to be present?"

"Nope. You're back-up and I'm tech support, as far as the other teams are concerned. The Avengers and X-Men are a little too scared to spar with me."

"Well then." Charles never felt regret taking over Tony's mind to take advantage of his fully functioning body when they were alone, Tony only asked to be aware of the intrusion after suggesting his lover use him to feel following the accident. Tony's centuries of experience were also at his disposal and the man knew the human body well.

The break from the constant onslaught of mental activity was nice, Charles had time to explore more of his lover's mind. Tony had become intimately familiar with the feeling of Charles in his head and found pleasure in it, relaxing into the embrace. Depending on his mood when Charles first entered, he could also be rather distracting, suddenly moving over to kiss the Professor or letting his hands wander if they were sharing a seat. He shared the extremely pleasant sensation in more ways than one whenever he could. If he was in the mood when Charles made entry into his mind. Even if he wasn't, he never reacted with anger to the intrusion, exasperation was probably the worst thing he felt.

Charles could remember Tony suddenly hopping up onto a kitchen island and kicking his shoes off before laying down, reaching out to take Charles' hands in his and resting them on his temples before focusing on his feelings for the mutant. Quite the dramatic way to declare one's love but Tony was a drama king. After the accident, Charles could clearly recall Tony, wearing a god-awful disguise, pulling him out of his chair onto that same counter and holding him in his lap. Hank came in to get food and nearly attacked Tony, who only smiled and jokingly asked Charles if something was wrong, fingers running through his hair in soothing strokes. "Nothing at all." He gently projected Tony's natural appearance, further reassuring the beastly engineer.

Now, Tony broke through Charles control, letting him continue to enjoy the sensations attached to their love making while taking the lead, doubling the pleasure for Charles.


	3. Apocalypse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> randomplotbunny on the original Immortality chapter back on What Superpower Should Tony Stark Have? commented: Though I wonder if Tony knew Apocalypse? According to a few Marvel timelines I've seen, Apocalypse lived sometime around 5 to 6 thousand years ago before being sealed away in a sarcophagus to stop his tyrannical rule. Maybe Tony knew him, either as an enemy or an ally. Either way that would be an epic reunion when Apocalypse gets released again.

Charles and Tony's Spring Break was cut short by the return of En Sabah Nur, Apocalypse. Tony seemed to know moments before his phone rang that something was up, "I'm gonna need a portal and a team." Beat "Fine, we're gonna need a team. Bet I know where he's headed." Another beat as the person on the other end spoke then hung up. Tony pocketed the phone and helped Charles dress, moving with the speed and efficiency of a former manservant to royalty. He was just pulling on his suit jacket when a portal opened behind them, Tony transferred him to his chair and pushed him through the portal to a monastery of sorts. He tapped Charles' temple to invite the telepath into his mind before speaking in a long dead tongue. Tony was only wearing a t-shirt and cargo pants, earning mild disgust from the monks. In front of him stood a bald woman in light robes, a black man in green and an Asian man in red. The woman smiled at Tony and responded to him in kind before switching to English- Charles got the gist from Tony's surface thoughts- for the sake of everyone else in the room "Mordo," the black man, "Wong," the Asian man, "Professor Xavier," Charles himself- he chose not to dwell on that, he was well known in some circles- "Agamotto," Tony. From the looks on Mordo and Wong's faces, that was quite the revelation.

Tony nodded "You go by the Ancient One, correct?"

"Yes."

"I go by Tony Stark but I suppose under these circumstance Agamotto might be more appropriate. We're kind of on the clock, time for you to fulfill your destiny and me to suffer another cleansing." The Ancient One gave his outfit a look, "Again, we're on the clock and unlike the Professor, I don't wear suits unless I have to. You need to bring the Eye."

"Of course." She opened a small portal and withdrew an artifact then opened a bigger portal onto a battle taking place on the school's lawn. "The Professor should stay here."

"Yeah." Tony took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow at the Ancient One, who blushed before instructing one of the monks to give Agamotto their weapons. Diving into battle, Tony tore through Apocalypse forces with the same skill he had possessed centuries ago, not letting an ounce of his newer skills seep through to ensure En Sabah Nur would recognize him. Apocalypse did indeed "You disgrace the kingdom you claim to represent. These modern men know nothing of our home, nothing of the law and order that reigned supreme until and after your rule."

"You exaggerate, traitor."

"How'd you learn English, usurper? Hmm? Is that the same body we locked away or did you finish the transfer just for the sake of linguistics?"

"Enough!"

"More than enough, I'd say but you never know when to quit."

"Neither do you."

"We were allies once, we stood together in the face of great peril, I was your closest confidant. Why must history repeat itself so?"

"You made your choice."

"You turned against all of the people equally and despite my lifetime of war, I stand on the side of life. Yes, the strongest should survive. No, I do not believe the meek shall inherit the Earth. I believe that strength takes time to build, even you needed a chance to grow up from the abandoned infant."

"Silence!"

"No. Hear me and wait your turn to speak. You violated the laws you were duty bound to uphold, children who might have grown up to be mutants perished due to your carelessness. That is what I could not stand, I did not betray you, I supported you to the end but we are not talking about a kingdom now, not a single empire. There are many worlds at stake and I cannot allow you to make the same sacrifices you did back then, I will not allow this to go that far." Tony looked up at En Sabah Nur, sad but determined "There is one more thing to be said before you say your final piece. I am not the hero of prophecy, hunted by Clan Akkaba without success. Your downfall shall come at another's hand or do you no longer believe in fate?"

"I believe what I have always believed that the strongest shall survive."

"As do I."

One of En Sabah Nur's followers interrupted "You dare speak to him as an equal?"

Tony ducked his head "Never. A vizier, a friend, a confidant but I know my place, I was never your equal, only the highest of your lessers and yet you took my involvement in your imprisonment to heart. Never deny having a heart, Apocalypse; without heart, we are all but empty husks. If you have nothing to say then let the cleansing begin."

Apocalypse held up a hand to stop his followers from accepting the challenge, "I offered you everything. You had my favor, my trust," En Sabah Nur approached as he spoke, one hand caressing Tony's cheek "My love." That same hand smacked him to the ground "And you betrayed me," a kick sent Tony flying yet he made no sound "You forsook it all. For what?" Tony went flying into the Pharaoh's hand "Tell me."

"For survival. The young must be allowed to grow before their strength can be truly tested, hearts take time to harden as you know." His voice came through clear and soft, as though he had not taken a beating.

Apocalypse dropped him, towering over him as he looked down "You would claim to have sought no personal gain."

"Many remained loyal to you, my cohorts were easily wiped out but none of your followers could free you, none were prepared to succeed you and so your proud empire fall. There is weakness in self-reliance."

"But you were to succeed me."

"No, I am human, no human should make plays at being a god."

Apocalypse was clearly angry "Hear me well. You had everything and you have forsaken it. A cleansing is more than you deserve but you may yet prove useful and so a cleansing we shall have." He began to walk away, "Show me what you truly believe, Anorak. Prove you deserve your miserable life."

"I have long given up on finding an end to it, worth has no place here. If words mean anything," En Sabah Nur turned back "Hear this and understand. It was loyalty not greed that led me to act as I did. My loyalty was never for sale, it never has been nor will it ever be. You once valued my loyalty but a loyalty that cannot be bought or sold cannot be owned. Feelings mean nothing and yet I believe you must know that I feel regret for our last parting, I failed you in your hour of need and I have never been able to determine when that hour was, when I could have acted to keep you on the path I had once believed you were destined for but it matters not because feelings matter not. Those with hardened hearts have the greatest strength." Tony stood "Remember our days of lost youth and suffering, remember the oaths sworn and the strength found not in love but in-"

"Conquest, recall and rejoice for all we have become and all we shall be then and only then may we mourn what could have been. Know that fate is quicksand, the possibilities running through a sieve. Strength is the stone that forms from the remnants and only the strongest deserve this life, the weak shall follow the path of the sand and shall perish." En Sabah Nur spoke in unison with his former vizier, "You have not forgotten what you have forsaken."

"I forsake nothing greater than you yourself have. Let the cleansing begin, Eternal Pharaoh."

Apocalypse turned to face him and with a nod, sent his followers after his former vizier. Tony slashed through many, ducking strikes and drawing on his considerable reserve of knowledge from a self-proclaimed lifetime of war. When he was the last one standing, he turned to En Sabah Nur and dropped to his knees, holding his arms out. The First Mutant's lips curled into a cruel smile but before he could speak, a portal opened behind him, pulling him into another world. Tony drove his weapons into the ground as all his felled foes followed their master into the other world and the portal was sealed. The Ancient One ran forward as Agamotto gave in, letting his body shut down as nature demanded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anorak came from watching Ready Player One


	4. The Ancient One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations are given

When he woke up, he was in the infirmary. One of the Ancient One's followers sitting with him, "Good, you're awake. The Ancient One wishes to speak to you."

"Just tell her I'm awake, she knows after a cleansing I usually can't move on my own for months."

"Yes, Master Agamotto."

The Sorcerer Supreme entered via a portal while Dr. McCoy was examining him, "That's quite enough."

"Agreed. Could you use the Eye to shave most of the year off my recovery?" The Ancient One nodded and proceeded to bring her mentor back to full mobility, stopping short of fully healing him. "You have improved much over the centuries. Thank you."

"Thank you, Master."

"Don't call me that. We just dealt with a god mutant pharaoh thing, the last thing I need to be called is master." Tony sat up and made sure he was in scrubs not a gown before standing to approach. "Nice work." He rested his hands on her shoulders and leaned in "May I tell them your story?" She nodded, hugged him- which would have freaked out her followers more than the revelation that he was the order's founder already had- then left. Spinning on his heal, he told McCoy "Let's go up to the cafeteria- this school has one of those, right?- so I can go over everything once and be done with it. Yeah?"

"Fine."

Upstairs, most of the mutants and heroes staying at the school watched with rapt attention as he sat down. Tony looked around, forcing a smile "Okay so, let's start in Ancient Egypt since Apocalypse is from there. En Sabah Nur was raised by the Sandstormers, a tribe of dangerous nomadic raiders. When Nur was 17, he killed three armed tribal warriors with his bare hands as his rite into manhood. The Sandstormers, and Nur, believe that only the fittest, toughest, most ruthless, and pitiless, who were tested by hardship, would and should survive. Like Darwin's theory as a social doctrine instead of a scientific one, I guess. Nur rose to power, I know how but if I gave his full history we'd be here all day just reviewing ancient history, literally. I was, well it's complicated since I'm not sure when exactly I was born but En Sabah Nur and I met, that's the important bit and he trusted me. I sort of shared his beliefs or grew to share them, it's a chicken and the egg deal when I think back that far. I was his vizier, confidant, you already heard the list. I was the only human En Sabah Nur favored, really. My loyalty was never for sale, I had thought I made that clear but since he believes I betrayed him, clearly I was mistaken. His rule would have been Egypt's ruin, he was violating the most basic doctrines of our time- again, if I start talking about that then this will turn into a history lesson on Ancient Egypt. There was this ritual wherein Apocalypse would transfer himself from one host body into another, both hosts being mutants. I say transfer himself because he retains his powers, personality, all that so it's not just his mind, his consciousness. During the ritual, he is at his weakest and that's when me and a few others struck, locking him away. As I said, his followers killed my co-conspirators but ultimately fell themselves. I may have misspoke on that because he clearly still has followers to this day. There was a prophecy, yeah I'm not big on fate or destiny or any of that but I do believe that some people have the power to see possible futures and run the numbers to only tell of the most likely outcomes. Anyway, this prophecy- I don't remember the wording after all these centuries- but the prophecy spoke of Nur's return and how he would be felled by a, I think they called it an unlikely hero. There were elements that led Apocalypse Loyalists to a baby girl, I'm not even sure I ever heard the full damn thing but I heard enough to meet them there. By them, I mean assassins, they didn't know where the child was but me, being more brains than brawn even back then, I managed to figure it out and get there first.

"The dangerous child was newly born the day I arrived and it was a race to find her, I got there first. Her family already knew of the assassins' search. To be honest, all I had to do get their trust was literally show them my back. When Apocalypse began suspecting I was going to rise against him, I fell out of favor and was given to his new favorite as a slave. Seeing my scars, the parents believed I wasn't with the assassins who were tearing apart their home and believed me when I told them what the assassins were after, letting me take their baby to protect her. I took her and snuck out just as the assassins burst in. Ever try to calm a baby when there's screaming all around? I've done it but I didn't have to with this newborn, she never made much of a sound while we were in her, for lack of a better word, hometown. I took her into the mountains. At one point I actually lost her in a river and picked her back up again downstream, so in a manner of speaking I found her floating in a river, which is where I would usually begin this story. This was long before science really developed so I used magic to keep us alive in the mountains. The followers of Apocalypse were determined to end the threat before she became a threat, I'd say that might've been a self-fulfilling prophecy looking back. I raised the Ancient One, I taught her the basics of magic and martial arts, we built Kamar-Taj together, originally just as a home. Our work to keep our home and by extension our world safe grew into a full on secret order called the Masters of the Mystic Arts that lives on to this day. They call me Agamotto, En Sabah Nur calls me Anorak, the A names are purely ironic I swear, I didn't even come up with Anthony."

"I've been wondering about that," Scott asked "How'd you fake being 4?"

"I didn't. I knew Howard Stark, he figured me out but he didn't mind too much, Maria only knew me as a friend of his from the war. Anthony was real but he died very close to his parents, I'm not entirely sure who passed away first, and I assumed his life. Howard would have allowed me to do that if their deaths weren't so close, he trusted me with a very dear secret that I will take to my grave, someday, hopefully, assuming I ever die and don't just get buried alive again." With a forced laugh, they moved on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify, Tony did have Howard's permission to take over his son's identity, the secret however is only slightly related to this fact (the reason Howard gave him permission). Our immortal did not kill the real Anthony Stark, more on that later
> 
> As for the aborted history lesson, I didn't want to get into the workings of Ancient Egyptian society. In the comments below, try explaining your native government or even modern society as a whole without mentioning the past. If you can, I'd love to see it. Personally, I can't and I didn't want to try explaining Ancient Egypt from Tony's perspective. Fun fact: Ancient Egypt did not use the term pharaoh until the era we call the New Kingdom, they actually called their ruler a king before that


	5. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some truths are realized and some outright revealed

_It's grounding for you, isn't it?_ Tony actually preferred telepathic communication over spoken, finding it easier to get points across that way rather than struggle for the appropriate words.

_What specifically?_

_This, us. It's not that you don't mind me in your head, it's grounding for you._

_Um, I guess._ From across the room, Tony stretched and yawned. He was still fighting off the last effects of the sedatives he was given while Hank stabilized him because he counted time unconscious as time asleep and thus felt he had to stay awake for a full day after passing out, or something like that because he refused naps and going to sleep so soon after he woke up would be like napping. Catching Charles' eye, he projected a very relaxing image, Charles in his lap, Tony stroking the telepath's hair, chin rested on his shoulder. _Don't make it weird_.

_You can- I suppose it's only natural after all this time. Wait, how is that werid?_

_Focus on the timing._ Tony replayed the image and Charles belatedly realized he was a child in the memory, he had been thinking of himself as Tony's lover without recognizing that fact.

_If you're not going to sleep, do you know how to make portals?_

_The Ancient One's portals use an artifact I have not possessed in a long time, a special ring that enables the wearer to channel extradimensional energy. I gave mine up a long time ago but it might be a relic now so maybe I can repossess it, why?_ Tony flashed him images of using the Sling Ring and the reason he gave his up, to save another's life, banking once more on his immortality.

_I think they have things handled here._

_How good is Jean?_

_I can block her, I suppose._

_We'll finish up this summer. The war may be over a year out, hopefully. Earth, as I understand it, is pretty out of the way._

_Alright then._

_Tell me when._

Charles secured their connection _When._ Tony leaned back, the scrubs riding up just a bit to show his abs, which were still bruised and battered from his fight. Before Charles could get too distracted thinking about how his lover chose to leave himself hurt, much more pleasant images flooded his mind. He barely noticed his lover taking him to his room, away from possible looky-loos.

The next day, Charles came down to find Tony physically dodging several of his fellow scientists who were trying to scan him. "That is enough!"

Reed Richards' arm snapped back to its human length as the cafeteria fell silent, Charles need only raise an unimpressed eyebrow for the scientists who'd been chasing his lover to look ashamed. "I’ve been dissected several times, y’know." The room's attention turned to Tony upon hearing him say that with such nonchalance "And I already let Hank scan me, which I tried to tell you." Tony turned to Hank "No more tests, I said nothing invasive and if you can't follow that rule then find someone who can."

"It's just a blood test."

"Get my blood from the bandages. No means no."

"Right."

Tony spun to face his fellow Avengers "Natalia, let's get something clear. I could, if I wanted, kill everyone in this room. I choose not to resort to violence, you've seen me fight. Against the coming threat, I won't hold back. Try me and you won't live to see what I can really do. Clear?"

As the Black Widow nodded, Steve Rogers jumped to his feet "Tony!"

"Cadet."

"It's Captain."

"After one week of basic training, I don't think so. And for those of you who don't know, basic training lasted three months back when Rogers falsely enlisted five times trying to cheat the system put in place to protect American soldiers. Household contact to a TB fatality alone made you unfit because you could be a carrier for a deadly, highly contagious disease."

"I was fine."

"Doctors disagreed but when have you ever let doctors get in the way of what you wanted? You joined the USO tour to avoid being stuck in a lab, giving blood and possibly sharing Erskine's life's work. None of it matters, Black Widows only care about their own survival- like a lot of people- so by saying I can kill everyone in this room, including some of the most powerful mutants alive, I threatened that survival. It's a preventative measure, I made sure that keeping my power a secret was in her best interest, a concept you should be intimately familiar with, Cadet Rogers." Tony moved to leave but Rogers wasn't having any of it, running over and reaching to grab him. Tony responded with skill, flipping the soldier and locking him in a hold not dissimilar to the kind Romanoff used, "Funny how you object to the way I talk to Nat when she herself does not object. Are you still operating on the belief that women need men to defend them? That they can't stand on their own? Read a fucking newspaper, learn to use Google, catching up on seventy years is not as hard as you're making it out to be. Sure, I lived through it, so did Charles, Erik, Logan, and Victor. Five people in this room you could talk to about what you missed but you won't, you choose to be the man out of time. That's fine but don't try to enforce your antiquated beliefs on the people around you and grow the hell up."

Tony let him go and walked over to Charles. As Rogers stood, glaring at Tony, Charles spoke "I will not tolerate this sort of bullying in my school."

Tony bowed his head, "I am sorry for escalating the situation, I don't choose to use violence as a rule of thumb but sometimes I fall back on old habits, apologies."

"Thank you, Tony. Just-"

Charles cleared his throat "Anthony was not the only one at fault, Mr. Rogers."

The super soldier seemed genuinely outraged at the implication, "I did-"

Natasha spoke up "Tony was right, you are stuck in a 40s mindset and in the modern day, that's toxic. If our roles were reversed, I would've done the same thing, made sure that choosing not to use force to make the scientists stop wasn't mistaken for weakness. I took no offense to what Tony said, **you** acted like he committed the ultimate sin, you took offense on my behalf and now you're taking offense to the implication that you overstepped, acting like you can do no wrong. You should apologize."

"For what?"

"Figure it out yourself. Reverse the roles, imagine if you were pre-serum Steve and Tony did to you what you just did to him."

Charles forced him to do as Natasha asked, putting the scenario in his mind. Steve spun on his heel, turning away from Natasha to glare at Charles "Stay out of my head."

"Leave my property." Before anyone could object, Charles said "If you refuse to admit fault, to act mature, then you can go home."

Steve huffed "C'mon guys."

"No, Mr. Rogers. I am not asking them to leave, only you. Seeing as you are not a licensed pilot and the jet itself is Avengers' property not your own, you can walk home. The serum gave you superhuman endurance, the walk won't kill you. Leave now."

Steve stomped off, Charles monitoring his mind to ensure he did not throw another tantrum on his way out. Sam put his head in his hands as his idol left, "I cannot believe I looked up to that guy."

Tony said "You didn't, you looked up to a fictional character very loosely based on a USO show that added to propaganda. You never looked up to Steven Grant Rogers, the man who falsely enlisted five times. You looked up to Captain America, the American Dream for victory over the Nazis. If that helps at all."

"Kinda does, I guess."

"One good thing Rogers did back then, he always had Jones and Morita stand close to him when they were taking propaganda pictures so the Asian guy and the Negro wouldn't be cropped out but, and I did meet them a few times back then, Sergeant Barnes was the real boss, he was Rogers' minder. He often got the intel given to him straight and helped their commanders feed it to Rogers so his old buddy wouldn't realize he was being led."

"What was your job back then?"

"World War 2 in general? The 40s overall? Or when I met Captain America?"

"The war in general, Rogers in particular."

"I was a spy." At the reactions that garnered, he quickly added "Not an Axis spy, my loyalty cannot be bought, sold or owned, En Sabah Nur is a very good example of why. I'm sure it hasn't occurred to you but my being alive in Ancient Egypt means I was alive when the English language was invented. I know many languages and to hide my surviving the impossible, sometimes I'd steal other soldiers' uniforms to make a kill shot look less deadly, hiding the wound really. Unfortunately, in my haste, I often grabbed uniforms off foreign soldiers and actually had to check myself before I approached the wrong command. Someone, somewhere down the line, noticed I had worn the uniforms of various militaries and, like, reported it. I was arrested, not sure which army made the arrest. There were discussions I was not privy to, being a prisoner, and then someone on our side who spoke German tested me over the course of several conversations. There was also an Italian guy and Japanese guy, I think, not sure if I'm getting my wars confused but once they discovered I was fluent in enemy languages, or at least one of them, the Allies made use of my ability to insert myself into other armies. I did what I did but with Nazis instead of Allies. Which brings us to how I met Cap, most of the times I met Rogers, I was just a soldier in the background. I wasn't anyone important in the war, you won't find my alias back then unless you really look, just a random soldier but I saw the conversation that was had after Erskine died but before the USO tour. For my spy work, same kind of thing, I stole a uniform and assumed a low ranking Nazi's post, standing in the background as very important conversations were had then slipping the contents of those conversations to the Allies."

"Seriously?"

"It wasn't glamorous but it was effective. Strangest part is, when I was doing that, I had a gun but I was never ordered to use it. I was just standing guard, living furniture of the highest quality." That garnered some laughs, "When I was trading uniforms with fallen comrades and I didn't steal from the injured unless they were beyond saving, when I was doing that, I was fighting and killing but possibly my most major contribution to that war involved standing around, doing nothing."

"Huh," Sam shrugged "Interesting. What about the 40s in general?"

"The war ended in '45, ironically the same year Rogers went under, and the first thing I did was vanish before I had to answer very awkward questions and possibly get dissected for the good of the world. I was still kind of in the good man mindset and Europe so I didn't totally take advantage of the Holocaust, would've been easy to bribe someone to give me a tattoo so I could blend in with the survivors, take a beating to distract from my lack of malnutrition. Child's play really and I've done similar in the past, taken advantage of tragedies to protect my secret but I didn't do it like that when 1945 rolled around. I still took advantage of it, took advantage of the camps set up to help the survivors, shared in their rations and helped however I could. I worked on restoring what had been destroyed in the Nazis' ethnic cleansing. Y'know, now that I think about it, that was pretty much all I did in the latter half of the 1940s, just help the survivors. Thankfully nobody recognized me as a Nazi from my spy work, that would've been terrible. Eventually, I left that life and wound up back in the US, reconnected with Howard, who I met briefly a handful of times after Rogers got the serum, he flat out told me he knew and then offered me a drink. Actually he told me everything I was doing wrong when it came to hiding myself, practically warned me about the evolution of technology and how that's gonna bite me in the ass. Strangely enough, you can probably find me in his wedding photos, in the background as usual. Yeah, that was my post-World War II life." Things settled down from his fight with Rogers, more Q&A was had and the pushy scientists apologized, mostly to preface their own questions but Tony didn’t mind.


	6. Agamotto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Repossession and recognition, the pros and cons of immortality in action

After everyone else resumed training, Tony made a phone call and returned to Kamar-Taj. Donning red robes, he joined a meeting of the Ancient One's inner circle. When the Masters started to bow, he rolled his eyes "We're equal here, I am not Sorcerer Supreme nor am I a cosmic entity, we are equal and I would appreciate it if everyone would act as such."

Daniel Drumm nodded "Naturally."

"Lemme guess, New York," he pointed at Drumm. "London," Sol Rama. "And Hong Kong," Tina Minoru.

"How did you guess?" asked Tina Minoru and Tony pointed behind them at the doorways to their respective Sanctums, clearing the tension that began to build when he asked to be treated as equal.

"Most Masters are not allowed in these meetings."

"Many of your relics come from me and I thought it best to discuss a threat to the Eye with the highest ranking members of the order." He shared all he knew about the true culprit behind the Chitauri Invasion, using what Thor has told them of his brother and the army "Now, Thor's wrong when he says not of any world known because Asgard only recognizes the existence of nine worlds but I don't know where they're from either." He continued the debrief, remarking "The energy readings from the scepter are similar to that of the Tesseract. We have two Infinity Stones on Earth, the Tesseract was used to send Thor and Loki back to Asgard and then to restore their Bifrost. I can, probably, retrieve it if necessary. The Avengers will handle reclaiming the scepter and I'll make it disappear to one of your Sanctums, hopefully before HYDRA resumes testing with its Stone in place of the Space Stone but that's doubtful." Once he finished briefing the masters, he asked "Any questions?"

"Have you always been this distracted?" asked Tina, choosing her last word carefully.

"I suppose. I'm just trying to give you all the information I can to avoid taking presumptive action."

The Ancient One all but kicked him out to allow them to properly deliberate, citing his request for equality. He was sent with Mordo to retrieve the scepter, securing the twins while he was at it "They perverted the scepter's power to twist the mutants to their will. I suspect that the scepter holds the Mind Stone."

The Ancient One agreed and used the scepter to remove its influence, nodding to her mentor when she was done. Tony took the twins to the school, Clint asked "What’s with the get up?"

"I visited the Ancient One to loop her order in." He had a hand on either twin's shoulder, "Meet Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, AKA the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, children of Magneto."

Tony released his hold and sat down at his boyfriend's side, joining the X-Men table for dinner. Ironically, Scott had taken Steve’s place at the Avengers table to get away from Erik. Another chair was stolen from an empty table before Sam waved the twins over "Why don’t you join us and tell us what Tony's left out of your intros? Why did he call you a witch?" That was inviting enough, although the twins refused to speak about where Tony found them.


	7. At Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly, Tony heals and practices magic- it's been about a hundred years, give him a break, he's a little rusty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why but I am like physically incapable of writing porn and everytime I try to write truly implied sexual content, deserving of an M rating, plot bunnies derail that train. Enjoy a few miracles instead and tell me what you think

With his sling ring returned, Tony was able to transport himself and his love back to the Stark Mansion. "Let’s finish what we started." Tony slipped to his knees with a practice ease, gained from living through the centuries before democracy was implemented. Tony's mind was always open to him but as a child, navigating that mind was a challenge that the budding telepath enjoyed (Tony's mind being hard to read due to all it held and the multitude of tracks his thoughts ran on). For now, Charles stayed out. He could appreciate the care Tony put into how he treated Charles, knowing full well that his handicap played a role as they had been lovers before the accident. Tony carefully undressed him; in his youth, Tony would practically race him to strip but getting unmoving legs free from pants could be something of a struggle even after all these years. As Tony worked, Charles returned the favor, reaching down to remove Tony's clothes, _Fair is fair_

Tony looked at him _Don't, not now._

Charles sat back, Tony had thousands of years on him but he usually let Charles take the lead seeing as the telepath had to use his power to share in the sensations. As Tony worked his way up Charles' body, deft fingers hit freshly bared skin in a carefully controlled manner. When he was done, Charles' whole body felt tingly. Wait a moment, his whole body- "Anthony."

Tony smiled, "The Ancient One often teaches people to heal themselves using the mystic arts. Now, let's see if we can't do the same for you." _Focus on me._ Tony managed to use their psychic connection to put Charles into a trance and guide him through the process. _Stand up._ Tony pulled him to his feet and Charles was amazed by... everything. After decades without use, his legs still worked. Tony stepped back so Charles could stand on his own, stripping out of his clothes in an enticing manner.

 _Anthony._ Tony fell back on his bed, images of previous encounters flashing through his mind along with ideas for things they considered before the accident but never tried. Charles' breath caught and he nodded jerkily before joining his lover.

The next day, they both dressed and returned to the school. "Where were you-?" Scott's question cut off when he realized his mentor was standing unaided. He turned to Tony "How?"

"I took a page out of the Ancient One's book, long story short her order takes in the desperate and heals the hopeless. Be that desperation or hopelessness the result of an incurable ailment or an existential crisis, it doesn't matter."

"Wow."

Tony scrutinized Scott before walking forward and using his ring to open a small portal, withdrawing an artifact and holding it in front of the mutant's eyes as he removed the man's glasses then returning the artifact and handing the man his eyewear. "Better?" Scott was a bit stunned, not having seen any color that was not red outside his dreams for most of his life. Tony turned to the other X-Men before settling on asking Magneto "Can you give him something to hit to make sure I didn't just fuck up his mutation, preferably something non-living?" Erik smirked and used part of Charles' wheelchair, Scott successfully triggered and suppressed his mutation. "Great. One thing to note, if you use up all of your psionic energy then your eyes will go back to how they were yesterday. Rather than rely on an artifact or try to teach you the magic involved, I just used your mutant power so you'll need to learn how to read your own power levels." Tony pointed to the glasses "I could probably put a simple illusion enchantment on those so you can still see in full color if you ever have to go back to using them." He turned to Charles _I need practice, anyone else I can help?_

_Rogue and Logan perhaps?_

_Rogue?_ Charles projected an overview of the mutant's power, more like a download than a lecture. _And Logan?_

_Wolverine is amnesiac._

_I'd ask how but I don't wanna know._ Tony walked over to Logan, "There's a ritual that works pretty well on amnesia, especially the kind caused by outside forces. Or I can open a portal and steal SHIELD's memory machine, it's based on alien tech that cured a superpowered amnesiac. Think about it." He looked around, locking on Rogue and approaching before a flashback overtook him. Charles saw it over their psychic link but a normal telepath, even one as powerful and experienced as say Emma Frost, wouldn't be able to navigate the jumble of Tony's mind to find what made him freeze. Once the memory of killing his wife- who had Rogue's power without her regard for other people and thus forced his hand- passed, Tony continued over to Rogue. "Charles gave me a quick rundown on your mutation, I'll have to ask the Ancient One but I think there's an artifact that can help. There is a catch, the artifact works based on proximity, you'll have to get it away from you not just pocket it to use your mutation and by discarding it like that, you run the risk of losing it. Think about it. If you lose the artifact and the Ancient One's order has to track it down, they won't give it back."

"Thanks, I'll think about it."

"I might be able to do for you what I did for Scott, use your power to negate your power, I'll have to do some research." Tony turned to Hank "Can you sequence DNA?"

Jumping in, Jean answered "I can. Why?"

"Well, I'm a lot of people's ancestor by virtue of being born over five thousand years ago. I'm wondering, since I'm ostensibly the first superhuman produced by nature, if there's a connection between me and the mutant race. I knew a woman with Rogue's power, long before the word feminist was even invented. I married her," he laughed "This was back when the idea that a woman could kill a man was laughably absurd. She killed at least 20 people that I know of for no real reason but based on that, I can guess that Rogue's power will have, for lack of a better word, an off-switch if she absorbs enough life force energy. Anyway, back to my wife, someone tracked her back to our home and because women were thought to be incapable of such an atrocity, people thought I was the monster. Not sure how long ago this was but the year ended in AD or CE, depending on your preference, so I was able to talk down the angry mob that came to kill me, knowing full well the revelation that you can't kill me would only serve as confirmation that I was guilty. I turn around and my wife's thanking me, apparently she thought I knew it was her but I didn't until then and I sure as shit didn't support her killing for no fucking reason. We fought, my centuries of combat experience kicked in, I won, not sure what I won but I won. Then I had to run for my immortal life because nobody was going to believe a woman had killed all those people and that woman did happen to be my wife so I was a damned man once again." Tony shrugged "I've seen a lot, met a lot of strange people who probably inspired certain myths, including alien gods but that's a whole set of stories for another time, I just want to know if there's a connection between those people and the modern equivalents."

"It is interesting but I don't need blood to sequence DNA." Tony nodded and followed Jean down to the infirmary to give a cheek swab.

Charles had a lot of fun being able to walk again, Erik was glad for his old friend. That night at dinner, Tony made a silent request _Quit calling me Anthony, we don't know how often that's been my name and I prefer using my current name._

_Very well._

_You're pretty good at navigating my mind. Is there anyway to use my mind to speed up everyone's training? Maybe transfer my combat knowledge so we can focus on powers and teamwork._

_Tony, you know a lot about fighting._

_Hand to hand combat, maybe we do it in doses every other weekend or something so they can adjust but you know how I am._

_Yes and if people die preventable deaths around you then you will blame yourself. We will work on this next break, after everyone has a chance to think through whether they want to consent or not._

_Square deal. You okay? With what you saw today?_

_I've seen similar images before, you have given me an open invitation to your mind, remember?_

_Right._

Erik asked "Do you often have psychic talks?"

"Yeah, I prefer it actually. I don't have to focus on using modern terms when what he's hearing is auto-translated to terms he'd understand. I lived through the birth of both the English empire and the English language, remember?"

"Of course."

_Were you two ever-?_

_Almost but no._

_Think he'd be open to-_

_Tony!_

_And there's the auto-translate in action. Charles, I love you but you have to realize that our relationship has always been open. I'm not suggesting a threesome, I'm suggesting you let him know we're not exclusive._

_Oh, maybe some other time._

_Are you, at least, sure he's bi? He has kids y'know. Wait, shit._ Tony spoke aloud "There's something you should know, Erik, but it's not something the room should know." Tony glanced at Charles "Is Cerebro soundproofed against Wolverine?"

"Logan won't listen in."

"I'm more worried about Victor Creed but their powers match so I didn't think I needed to specify."

Erik said "He won't listen in," rising from his seat. Tony followed him down, the mutant opening the door with his power and closing it the same way. "I assume this has something to do with my children."

Tony sighed "HYDRA had them and Loki's scepter from the Battle of New York, the Ancient One used the latter to break their conditioning but they seemed to hate me before that so I can only assume HYDRA was conditioning them to destroy the Avengers." Erik froze. Pushing on, Tony said "Y'know I don't do exclusivity unless I'm married so there's no reason to be jealous." Erik turned a sharp look on him. "I've known Charles about as long as he's been a telepath, he has a son named David Haller, that should tell you everything. If you want-"

"I am not like you two."

"I know, I'm distracting you to make sure you don't fuck up the machine you helped build, or collapse the building above us by fucking with the structural integrity of this part."

"Thank you for telling me."

"I'll do you one better. The Masters of the Mystic Arts only wanted the scepter because it contains an ancient artifact, the kind that they're sworn to protect. One of the Masters and I went in, retrieved the scepter, I dragged the twins back with us but the point is, the base is still there and since we used stealth to avoid exposing magic's existence to HYDRA-"

"It may still be functional."

"They're not gonna be rushing out like they would have if we'd performed a proper raid. If you're sure you don't want Sabretooth, I could open a portal there right now."

"Do it."

"Are you sure you don't want to suit up first?"

Erik looked down at himself, sighed and left the room "Meet me by the elevator." Tony went up to his room and got dressed in his Master robes, throwing the hood up before waiting for Erik where he'd been told to meet.

"Don't brace, it's just like walking through a doorway." He opened a portal and followed the mutant through, keeping his head down to hide his famous face. When Magneto was done slaughtering every HYDRA agent in sight, sparing only those who displayed mutant traits as per his usual MO and trusting Tony to drop them into portals, Tony hacked the computers and started a secure transfer of files to his servers. They stayed to see the transfer through before wiping the entire system and going home. Tony led Charles down before releasing the mutants from the portals, where they'd been falling continuously. "Think you can help? If the scepter is involved then I can take them to the Ancient One, I have to because undoing the perversion helps cleanse the artifact."

"Let's see, shall we?" Mentally, Tony quickly said _Erik's straight, I think it's my human status that bugs him or the fact he didn't figure out I wasn't mortal, something like that, not jealousy over what could've been,_ then he shut down that train of thought, clearing their connection of distracting noise. Charles got to work, Tony had to take some to the Ancient One and sheepishly admit what he'd advised Mordo to do as well as what he'd let Magneto do, both actions that made cleansing the Mind Stone much more difficult. When he was finally home for the night, Tony watched Erik reunite with his kids before portalling to his room in Stark Mansion with Charles. He used his 'magic' hands to distract the telepath and enjoyed being able to properly tease him again. _Nothing planned tomorrow, Erik and Scott can bicker and take care of business until Saturday, I can help Rogue and Logan both in one day._ Charles melted a little at that before demanding Tony focus on the present.


	8. Hiding in Plain Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony remembers a few things

_This is fake, right?_

_What, dear?_

_Trying out pet names? Just avoid the actual pet ones_. Unbidden (or barely bidden), images of himself in tight situations flashed through Tony's mind before focusing on the present and the pictures his boyfriend's students were showing him. _At least they remembered to put me in the background._

_Do you want me to scan your mind?  
_

_Well, duh._ He could just imagine Charles rolling his eyes before sifting through Tony's extensive memory banks, a task the telepath was better suited to than the man himself.

 _Shuffle through the pictures, I need a better view to base my search on._ Tony did as asked. _A few may be recreations but all of the depictions are accurate._

Tony looked up at the students "Uh, don't remember it all but they seem familiar." He stood and subtly fled, finding Logan "Want to work on your amnesia or did the ritual work?"

"We went through Chuck, remember?"

"I can't even remember why I'm here."

"Does your immor-"

"Charles is always in my head."

"He knows."

"He knows everything. I'm gonna go." Fumbling for his Sling Ring, Tony made his escape.

At dinner, Clint plopped down next to him, "I gotta ask a question."

"Glamour charm."

"What?"

Tony raised an eyebrow "I use an illusion enchantment called a glamour charm to hide my not aging. It's more consistent, really takes the guest work out of makeup, plus men and make up don't always mix, and y'know there were times when I was a slave so it's just more efficient and effective."

"Huh?"

"The way you've been staring at me, really earning your namesake, since I got back from the school clued me into what you were going to ask."

"Why do you talk that way?" asked Clint, as a replacement question.

"Charles tells me my mind runs on multiple tracks, likely a result of my extensive memory and knowledge, my mind needs a way to process more data than any other human. Sometimes when I talk, if I'm not careful, I pull from multiple tracks, giving the impression of bouncing between topics when I'm really sticking to one as best I can. Seeing as I'm old enough to be everyone's ancestor, I'd have to be celibate as a freaking monk to not cradle rob but I still respect age of majority and age of consent. I say this because what I say next might be disturbing without that background. I've known Charles as long as he has been a telepath. My jumbled mind and laid back nature were soothing to him and actually helped him realized his was psychic not psycho. Hearing voices made him think he was going insane then I helped him focus on me and he realized the voices weren't in his head but everyone's heads. My mind is unique because it's open but inaccessible. Telepaths can feel my mind but the multiple tracks make reading it nearly impossible. Charles has spent a fair share of his life working through it, even though he guessed within two years of meeting me that it was Sisyphean task. Sisyphus was the guy damned to roll a boulder up a steep incline forever because the boulder always rolls back down and nearly crushes him. I've lived so long that going through all of my memories, even though memories don't work in real time, is like that. See how easy it is for me to get distracted."

"Yeah." Clint asked "What else have you used magic for?"

"Contraceptive, of sorts. When I don't want to have kids, for a long time, I had to use magic to make sure I couldn't have kids. I use normal methods now but to be fair, that was the normal method at one time."

"Interesting."

"That's enough questions." Tony stood and walked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify, they're using Charles sifting through the memories of people (namely Victor) who knew Logan


	9. Asgard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Convergence time, Odin gets schooled

Tony tagged along with Thor and Jane (he was looking into Selvig's mental breakdown when he discovered Jane went missing) to Asgard. Odin made a dramatic entrance into the healing chamber asking "My words are mere noises to you that you ignore completely?"

"She is ill."

"She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait." Tony fought not to laugh, he was the only true immortal in the room.

"I brought her here because we can help her." That was even more amusing, Thor must have a selective memory. Do Asgardian children take history classes or is history merely taught through legends?

"She does not belong here in Asgard anymore than a goat belongs at a banquet table."

Tony stepped forward and cut off Odin's pacing "And yet you use the All-Speak to ensure she understands your every word. Does Thor even know the All-Speak can be disabled, that Asgard has its own language outside it?" Odin's eye widened. "Yes, I see selective memory is not hereditary, not sure where Thor got his. I go by Tony now."

"Tony," the name almost carried reverence.

"I agree with you in part, Asgard cannot heal all of humanity but illness is universal, any member of any species can fall ill. But, Thor misspoke, she is not ill, she is the current, chosen host of the Reality Stone, what you know of as the Aether. I know how to remove an Infinity Stone from a host, even a chosen host but since you never taught your heir even the basics of magic, I cannot do so at the moment, I must research your realm since I cannot draw on the mystic power of my own from this distance." Tony looked at the All-Father "I had thought you learned your lesson when you lost that eye, I was mistaken, it happens, another thing that is universal. You and I must talk in private but first, make sure your people do not attempt to prepare the goat for the banquet."

Odin gave the necessary orders, waving off his son's concern before leading the immortal known as Tony to his private study and asking his wife be extended an invitation not a summons. He waited with Tony for the Queen's response, Thor must have gotten to her before the messenger because her first words were about how she had to see for herself the cause of so much excitement. Tony bowed deeply to her "Queen Frigga, a pleasure to meet the woman responsible for bringing balance to the monarchy." He took a seat across from Odin "Jane can do that for Thor since you screwed up again. What is wrong with you, Odin? Did it not even occur to you to temper the contempt displayed for Frost Giants while you were raising one? It has recently come to my attention that one who cannot admit his faults is unfit to lead. For that reason, I must wonder if I did not do Asgard a disservice when I spared you on that battlefield many moons ago. Your wife has absolutely no clue as to what I speak of and she, I assume, is your closest confidant."

"Tony-"

"No. Loki's imprisonment is unjust. I checked with Thor when we arrived and he shared his brother's sentence, confirming what he had already told my team, which I had assumed was a ploy. I had thought you were employing a cunning strategy, letting word spread of Loki's imprisonment to keep the last of the Titans satisfied, ensuring that he does not suspect you are preparing to move against him but no, you spread only the truth in the unwisest manner. In case you have become as dense as your heir, Loki was held captive by Thanos while you thought him dead, he faced the worst of the galaxy without hope and came out prepared to sabotage himself, fully willing to face the Titan's revenge if only to give you a chance to overcome Thanos, to be the victor. Loki played a long game while you allowed your pride to get the better of you. As for his crimes prior, that is the result of your unwise parenting. You raised a Jotun in a culture that celebrates the near annihilation of his species, that reveres them as monsters that were heroically vanquished. What did you think was going to happen if the truth ever got out? Did you honestly expect Loki to live and die never knowing he was not born of Asgard? That is not even mentioning the scorn you displayed for him taking an interest in magic, which I might remind you that you are an accomplished practitioner of. The more I think about it, Loki is just a younger, more cunning you. Mortals have developed an interesting concept, that of nature versus nurture, how much of a person's being is determined by the environment they are reared in and how much is natural, it is one of their eternal questions. I understand that you cannot entirely overturn your decision, nor would you ever dream of doing so as Loki is not your chosen heir, but perhaps you can still take advantage of this situation by sharing books with him, allow him to educate himself on the truth of what he is."

"Have care how you speak."

"Stop lying and think. Educating Loki on his people is purely advantageous. When she returns, your people will need all the aid they can muster. You have done them a grievous disservice. Make no mistake, I will be telling Thor the tale of how we first met, it should be an even better lesson in humility than a handful of days in a desert town with his power restricted but not stripped, a town that was destroyed because of your lies. I know you care not for mortals but know this, Midgard will be the final battlefield in the war for the universe to come and its people will lead its allies in that battle. The time for false gods is long passed. The time for truth is upon you. Point me to the library, I am done speaking to a man who hears nothing not said in his own voice. You should stop calling Midgardians mortal, I am Midgardian and you are much more prone to death than I." Odin gave him directions and Tony left with another bow to Frigga.

"How do you know my father?" asked Thor, joining him in the library with Jane by his side.

"Back in what we humans call Norse or Viking times, I was a member of a small tribe. We had nothing to give and refused to give on principle. Your father was, I believe, a prince at the time and he decided that Asgard needed to teach the mortals a lesson while others deemed the realm too primitive to be worthy of the effort. I had been alive for over a thousand years at this point. Odin came with a band of warriors that actually outnumbered the people they had sought to bring to heel. I was tired, my people struggled to survive and your father thought it only right we give to his. Yet, even weary as I was, I still attempted to speak to him, to reason. He responded with scorn and demands we remember our place. We had not enough food to go around and knowing, as I did, that I could not starve, I often refused what little we had. I believe, in that time, I went without food for several weeks yet I continued to contribute all I could. I was strong and malnourished at the same time. Odin had come to fight a battle he could not win. I took on him and his men, the people of my tribe huddling together around the center of our homeland, where what little fire we could muster burned. The adults knew that we might all die that day but we did not, I fought with all the strength and skill I could muster and miraculously, I managed to overcome your father's forces. I had Odin bested when a young man- younger than Odin, I do not know his true age given time moves differently here in Asgard as opposed to Midgard. A young man intervened, he had stolen three enchanted artifacts and offered them in trade for the prince's life. I spared your father with a warning, telling him to learn from our encounter. Another man, another Asgardian I should say, he did not like the way Asgard operated and chose to stay as your father and his savior left. That weary Asgardian was your Uncle Ve and his desire to be done with Asgard's ways was so great that he abdicated the throne to your father, warning him not to make the same mistakes as their father Bor had, to allow life to be a teacher not a tormentor, to let his mind rule his heart not the other way around. It seems his many words of warning fell on deaf ears, if the children reared by Odin are any indicator."

Jane asked "Who was the other Asgardian? The one who saved Odin?"

"Heimdal, he who will always intercede on behalf of the kings and heirs alike, at least those he favors. I truly believe that were it Ve not Odin at the end of my blade then Heimdal would have done nothing, as he did when Loki fell into the clutches of Thanos the Mad Titan, as he did when Loki was twisted into a thrall and forced to do the Titan's bidding, as he did when Loki was tried for the crimes committed as a thrall, as he has done a thousand times over I am sure following events I know not of."

"Why are you talking that way?"

Tony muttered something under his breath "I was using the All-Speak, a kind of universal translator, to read. Did you really think aliens spoke English?"

"When you say it like that,"

"I am over 5 thousand years old, do not be too hard on yourself. Come, sit. I will try to explain things in terms you will understand." Tony told her about the Infinity Stones and how they worked, how they all took different forms for safe keeping and were guarded by various tests, he omitted most of his experience with the Stones. When Tony explained things, being an avid scientist himself, they made more sense than when Thor tried to do the same. "The Prime Directive is basically in effect and I imagine Thor flunked all his classes but graduated anyway because he's the Golden Heir."

"Right, which is why when he talks about history-"

"Sounds like he's sharing legends. To be fair, he's Odin's son and if my story didn't make it clear, Odin is not big on thinking."

"Are you sure you should-"

"Odin can't kill me and since I'm the only one who knows how to handle Infinity Stones, my immortality is kind of redundant in regards to keeping me off Asgardian death row."

"Right."

Tony convinced Odin to include Loki in the ritual to remove the Reality Stone and Thor refused to leave his lady love forcing Odin to display his mystic prowess before both of his sons. Afterwards, Odin altered Loki's sentence to slavery under the immortal currently known as Tony Stark. The sentence was passed before only the royal family, Jane and Tony, the last of who held back a sigh before making a portal "Dr. Foster, would you like to go first? Loki, you heard Odin." The two went through with Tony following, Frigga placed a hand on the human's shoulder and he let her pass before closing the portal. "First thing's first. Slavery's illegal here on Midgard so," Tony summoned a sword and sliced the collar off Loki's neck, "Queen Frigga, if you wouldn't mind checking to make sure that worked."

"Not at all." She did something none of the Midgardians could see before confirming "Loki is free."

"Great." Tony turned as a bald woman and Asian man entered the room, "Just who I needed to see. Ancient One, meet Loki. The brainwashed sorcerer I told you about. Yeah, the Convergence is nearing so I was taken on an impromptu trip to Asgard." Gesturing to Jane, "The most recent host of the Aether, Jane Foster. I made a judgement call and used the Reality Stone to tie our Stones to the Space Stone so we can summon them when Thanos comes. It's bad form to collect something you're trying to keep someone else from collecting, y'know?"

"Not always, Agamotto."

"Right. I was hoping Loki could stay here, learn Midgardian magic and maybe teach our Midgardian sorcerers how to perform Asgardian magic." Tony told Loki "You and her both have to agree or I have to figure something else out. When I grabbed the Reality Stone, I tethered it to the Space Stone and used the Space Stone to trap the Dark Elves in their own realm, plus tethered the Stones on Midgard to the Stones now on Asgard so we have a four/two advantage without the enemy knowing."

"Very wise," Loki told the Ancient One, "It would be my pleasure to share my knowledge of magic with your order, with your permission."

"Very well. Agamotto, will you be staying?"

"Apologies but I cannot, I have a few more errands to run before I return to my very public persona."

"Understood." The Ancient One looked at Frigga then Tony expectantly.

"Loki's mother, Queen Frigga of Asgard, she wanted to be sure that her husband did not once again condemn their son for no good reason, ensure he would be safe and cared for."

"Of course." The Ancient One did not bow as her mentor had, she merely inclined her head in acknowledgement. "If that is all," Tony nodded and opened another portal to Asgard for Frigga's convenience then to Jane's flat so he could leave Kamar-Taj with her.

On the other side, Jane jumped him with about a hundred questions. Darcy interrupted by all but tackling her friend in a hug "Janey, you're okay."

"Yes, I removed the parasitic Aether and used it to deal with a threat posed to the realms until the next Convergence. If you'd like, I could direct you to the place where the Convergence will occur here on Earth."

"I would love that but you're not getting out of answering my questions."

"Light magic, as many call it, is a form of energy manipulation. The sorcerers who practice it tap into a limitless supply of extra dimensional energy. The Ancient One and I accidentally discovered it through something of a botched ritual that nearly killed her. I still have no idea what we did wrong but apparently my immortality provided a key to this well of limitless power. As a result of the accident, the Ancient One has been able to live for over two thousand years, hence her chosen name. My immortality merely means that death eludes me. I still feel the pain of my body shutting down as its ravaged by disease but not the release from life, release from that painful existence, that everyone else experiences. My body continues to be ravaged in a sort of drawn out battle, which it always wins eventually. I have been buried alive both on purpose and accident due to this, I've also been burned at the stake and on a proper funeral pyre. Anyone can learn magic but magic requires a degree of belief, it will fail if you expect it to, which is why scientists are almost never taught the mystic arts."

"You said that's light magic, what about dark?"

"Dark magic came first, which is somehow a disputed fact even though the Ancient One and I lived through the creation of light magic. Dark magic tends to have more ritual to it, requires more sacrifice, or at least more of a tangible sacrifice, that is why it is considered evil. Like I said, light is what many choose to call the other form. They're equally hard to learn, to master and for the same reasons. They both involve a lot of meditation, a lot of mental discipline and a degree of belief, although dark magic can work when the belief is misattributed. If you believe your sacrifices are going to please a demon when you're actually harnessing life force energy from innocent victims then the effect is the same whereas with light magic, you kind of need to know what you're doing more. Dark came first, pagan rituals may or may not be the foundation of dark magic, I'm not sure, but dark definitely came first. In magic, dark always precedes light. To make that easier to swallow, think of it in a general historic sense. Imagine a modern man practicing slavery. In the past, slavery was a normal part of society, it was an acceptable practice but today, it is seen as barbaric and intrinsically wrong. Bad before good, dark before light, it can be seen in cultural evolution."

"Okay, that makes sense, I think."

"I'd like to hire you to work for SI, we need to work on detecting the Bifrost, early warning to avoid another Puente Antigo."

"Sounds great."

"Great, I'll have legal draw up the documents." Tony smiled and walked over to the kitchen table, jotting down coordinates before looking those coordinates up on his phone and writing an address beneath them, "That's where the Convergence will be at its strongest. You can check my work by triangulating based on the remnants of the last Convergence. I will see you all later." Erik hurried around the table to do just that as Tony left.

"Are we not gonna talk about Tony Stark being immortal?" asked Darcy.

"Oh, we're gonna talk about it, after the Convergence."


	10. The House of Odin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony visits an old friend and commiserates
> 
> Oh and he might save the world, or at least part of it, in the process

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was inspired by The Second Born by Aki_Usagi here on AO3, check it out https://archiveofourown.org/series/416538. I read it, couldn't get it out of my head so I did my own take here

Tony walked into the flat of John Watson and Sherlock Holmes with a smirk, "Your brother is an idiot," he declared, summoning and handing a sheepskin flask to the only blond in the room.

"What has he done now?" The man known as John Watson asked, taking a swig from the flask and ignoring the Holmes brothers' stare.

"Want the list? The long and short of it is he didn't learn from the first one." Tony frowned "Were you in isolation these past few years? Please tell me you didn't get committed again for claiming to be an alien prince."

"Since we last spoke, no, not for that. I wasn't in isolation during the- what are mortals calling it?- the Battle of New York. No creativity, pity." Tony waited for his old friend to catch up. When he did, he froze with the flask almost to his lips and his eyes hardened, "You must be joking."

"Wow, not even truly related to you, never met you and your nephew still takes after you."

"Go back to the first one."

"New York or," At John's unimpressed look, Tony defended himself "You've said that and meant the start of the conversation. Stolen as a babe near the end of the war for the Casket of Ancient Winters, so adopted or abducted, take your pick, he was equally fucked over."

"You," John sighed and raised the flask "I'm going to need more than this."

"That was empty when I handed it to you."

"Right. I assume you've spoken to my brother."

"Still easier talking to a brick wall. His current favorite confuses legend and history, both he and his heir have contributed to the stigma against magic, despite your father insisting all of his children learn magic and your brother being an accomplished sorcerer. He actually offered me the adopted son as a slave. Knowing how that magic works, I took him and waited until we were in Midgard to break the damn curse. Before New York, his favorite attempted to finish the slaughter your brother started and was dumped in the American desert mere miles away from his prized weapon for about a week- less than actually, Steve Rogers was in boot camp longer than the golden heir was being taught humility."

"Humility? There's a lark."

"The Golden Heir truly believes himself to be the eldest, as does most of the realm."

John dropped the flask, his magic catching it and setting it on the table "By the Norns. How does one man fuck up so much?"

"He is truly your mother's daughter."

John burst out laughing, "That is not funny."

"What? Did you forget that-"

"No, I did not. I merely forgot I told you as much."

"In our defense, you had just drank an entire county's supply of wine to see if Midgardian alcohol could ever affect you." Glancing at the Holmes brothers, he said "To answer that question, yes it can, if an Asgardian drinks about ten times their weight."

"Asgardian," said the elder of the pair.

At Tony's look, John said "I was never going to tell him, only Sherlock."

"Who's he?" asked Tony, referring to the man with a receding hairline.

"Mycroft Holmes," he offered his hand and Tony crossed his arms.

"To be clear, I met Ve Borson when about fifty Asgardian warriors tried to bring my small clan to heel, I slaughtered all but one, Odin, and Ve went with Heimdal, the current gatekeeper, to retrieve his brother. So you see, you will not attempt to blackmail me or expose my secret in any way, shape or form. I have had over five thousand years to perfect my methods."

"Of course," Mycroft swallowed, properly intimidated.

Tony turned to Sherlock then rolled his eyes and faced John/Ve, who was sitting in one of the chairs with his sheepskin flask "You so have a type."

"To which are you referring?"

"Brilliant mortal men."

"The better to avoid demigods and why waste time with ordinary folk?"

"Fair point. Why did you ever name your sword?"

John stood up and glared at him "I didn't, that quack Merlin did as he abused my friendship to elevate his status."

"Why not leave him to die in dragon fire?"

"Because his reputation gave the people hope and I never liked dragons. At least Arthur properly learned humility, unlike many I could name."

"True." Tony asked "Can I use your computer? I only know your current name because Heimdal told me after he got pissed at me for telling Thor how we met. I reminded him that A) I don't fucking care about Asgardian politics; B) Odin wanted him to learn humility and hearing his father was humbled might make it sink in deeper; C) Odin could easily twist the story to make them both look very clever; D) well, I asked why Thor seems to be unaware of half his family's existence, Heimdal couldn't answer that; E-"

"That's enough, I get it, you schooled the Gatekeeper."

"Good, 'cause I was running out of ideas."

John laughed, "I know."

Tony turned back to Sherlock "To be clear, John is not immortal, he's just an alien of the long lived, very durable variety. I, on the other hand, am immortal. I cannot be killed, odds are good I've been subjected to every method of murder out there-" John shot him an exasperated look and Tony raised an eyebrow "I said method, counting all kinds of poison as one COD."

"Alright, I'll give you that one."

"And I count all bombs the same because I am thankful I was not in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, or even New Mexico."

John laughed again before asking, "The Destroyer?"

"Loki after finding out and confronting Odin, which only sent the king into a glorified coma."

Sherlock asked his lover "When were you going to tell me?"

"Sometime after the engagement without Mycroft, Mrs. Hudson or Lestrade present."

"Fair enough."

Tony asked "Where is your computer and can I use it?" John snapped his fingers and Tony was suddenly sitting on the couch with the alien's laptop in his lap. Tony returned the gesture with a snap of his own, not looking up from the computer. The strap of a satchel and the cord from the sheepskin flask were tangled around John's forearms in an instant, binding his hands.

"Oh, I forgot something, didn't I?"

"The flask was empty when I handed it to you," Tony repeated, still not looking up.

After a few moments of silence, John realized his old friend was not referring to when he handed it over that day. With a sigh, he whispered a few words under his breath and Tony's hand shot up to catch the coin that flew past John's head before the Asgardian freed his hands with a clap. "Better?"

"I suppose. Your childhood bestie sent the satchel."

"Never should've thrown away that friendship," John muttered as he looked inside.

"I'm sorry but didn't that sacrifice save like three realms and wasn't it her idea?"

"You're right on both counts but I should've bound my brother to his word."

"Live, learn, outlast."

"Words to live by."

"Not for mortals."

"Oh come on! Are you ever going to let that go?"

"Your people still call mine that. With every other realm, it's the Aesir, the Vanir but with Midgard, it's mortals. Even your sworn enemies are shown more respect, Frost Giants, Jotun, Jotnar, those are their common names."

"I have no control over that."

"No, but you do have control over your own stupidity and ignorance." Tony turned the computer around and showed his friend "Remember trial by combat is no longer in practice."

That was a clue and John soon facepalmed, "You've got to be kidding."

"You really are quite balanced," Tony shot a look at Sherlock "Like mirror images. Always and forever, forever and always, never and ever."

"Shut up."

Sherlock asked "What are you two on about?"

"Now you know how normal people feel," John couldn't resist the urge to mutter.

"Moriarty has his own Ve." Tony handed the laptop over before turning to the Holmes brothers "Even I get confused on the Norse family trees, I have often suspected men of long lived species just claim impressive kids as their own and don't bother learning how to test paternity, which is how one person ends up with about a dozen different possible pairings for parents in our mythologies. Anyway, on that note, Cul is either Odin's eldest brother, uncle or nephew, assuming they are actually related by birth. I doubt he is Odin's eldest brother, Ve has told me that was his twin brother Vili or Vali, take your pick they're actually variants of the same name. Ve is sometimes spelled V-E and other times it's spelled V-I, his twin is either V-I-L-I or V-A-L-I, see how they're the same name?" The brothers nodded. "I won't get into Asgardian royal family drama but Vili and Odin took after their father Bor in making war for no reason except the thrill of battle. Ve, here, was the black sheep with his desire to save everyone, heal people on both sides of the battlefield."

"Said the man who always makes the sacrifice play."

"Right. Odin had a daughter, allegedly, who was raised and reared in this environment, she thrived on the battlefield. After Ve more or less finally convinced his family to stop killing everything in sight and calling it righteous war, Vili and Bor mysteriously perished. Ve, oddly enough, was already living on Earth with me and merely returned to Asgard for, like a week, to pass the throne onto Odin. Now, Odin's daughter is a whole mess in and of herself but we're talking about Cul, or we should be. No matter who his father is, Cul wants Asgard's throne, he believes it is his birthright. To us humans, Cul is the God of Fear. Aliens are given titles like god of this and goddess of that by primitive races through association. If the sea appears to respond to your command then you may be dubbed God of the Seas, if you love screwing with the locals then you may be dubbed God of Mischief or simply a trickster god. Put it all together."

Sherlock said "So Cul is strongly associated with fear," Tony waited a moment "He's scary."

"I dunno, I've faced him before but mostly he just tortured me to torture Ve because he wanted Ve to give him his birthright or maybe they were feuding again, I'm not sure but I am sure he did not turn his power on me. Ve is a healer first and a warrior second, although he's technically still a prince of Asgard since he gave up the kingship only, I think."

"You are correct but I'm not going back."

"Wasn't asking you to."

Mycroft asked "What makes you so sure Cul is working with Moriarty?"

"As I said, Ve and Cul have a feud, from Cul's perspective. I'm not even sure why Cul stays on Midgard or how he got here in the first place."

"Cul is my son, how he became a god I'm not sure."

"Ve, Cul is not your fucking son."

John Watson looked up, "How do you know?"

"You're gay, dumbass. I tried to arrange your marriage several times and you failed to consummate every time. Dude, you're as gay as the day is long."

"Another reason to avoid Asgard, I am a gay sorcerer, half the nobility would challenge me to holmgang in less than a day."

"Duel for honor," translated Tony at the Holmes brothers' identical looks.

"Do you have an actual plan beyond forcing me to tell them what I am and pointing out Cul's return?"

"What makes you think he ever left? And to answer your question, yes but we'll have to wait out the Convergence."

"The Con- huh, forgot that was this year."

"It'll my second, I think. How many does this make for you?"

"Vili and I were born during one so it depends on how you count, and to be totally honest, I don't know."

"To be equally honest, I said two because En Sabah Nur proves I was alive five thousand years ago, I don't actually remember it."

"Ah, fair enough."

Mycroft asked "What is this Convergence?"

"A cosmic event wherein the Nine Realms of Norse mythology line up in such a way that the laws of physics become suggestions. Gravitational and spatial anomalies are a warning sign of this, portals randomly forming and collapsing. Several wonders of the world were built during the last one. If you want to observe this one, head to Greenwich, I'll give you the location since I calculated it today. You'll be able to see several alien worlds just by looking up, no telescope needed, it's kind of fun." Tony jotted down the coordinates and address on a random piece of paper again and turned to John "You need to be there in case Malekith makes his move. I used the Aether to trap him but y'know, it's the Convergence."

"Right. Portal?"

"It's the fastest way." Tony opened one and followed the three men through, "It might take a while, we're a bit early but better early than late."

After the Convergence, Ve and Tony went off to put an end to Cul and Moriarty, dropping the latter, securely bound, on Lestrade's desk via a portal with a note signed with Ve's sigil then they returned to the flat and did some Q&A with the Holmes brothers before Tony had to jet, briefing the trio on Thanos while he was there.


	11. Regrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A snapshot of Ve and Tony

While they were setting a trap for Cul, Tony asked John "What's your greatest regret?"

"Settling for words when I knew nobody was listening. Yours?"

"Failing to see when my friend was falling into the proverbial abyss. We're the sorta same, y'know."

"Yes. About your current name-"

"Anthony died within a year of his parents and before their deaths, Howard gave me permission to assume his son's identity, wishing to secure a legacy."

"Ah."

"Did you steal from a random fallen soldier again?"

"We've both used that trick."

"You more than me, although I'll admit I've killed more enemies in war."

"True."

"Talk to Sherlock, our lovers tend to need reassurance when the I word comes into play."

"Right. I had almost forgotten."

"I rely on others to keep me from throwing in the towel and letting humanity destroy itself, I probably have more experience here."

"True."

"You gonna kill him?"

"I have no choice."

"There's always a choice, you could bind his power, his ability to teleport at least, and banish him."

"Tried that, remember?"

"Oh, right. Let Sherlock know what this means to you, don't play the tough guy doing what has to be done, not with him or you'll never recover from this."

"Right."

"You get to explain Her to your lover, I'll explain Her to her brothers. Deal?"

"Deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She/Her is obviously Hela. How Odin kept her a secret from Frigga, the world may never know. Most likely he cast a spell to erase that part of his past from everyone's memories. Since Ve is his elder, more magic inclined brother and not in Asgard at the time, he remembered and told Tony, his first true friend. If anyone has a better idea, lemme know.


	12. Inhumans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is just bringing everyone up to speed

The next time Tony got a chance to disappear, he opened a portal to Attilan and had to run for his life. _Great, I remember where the place is but I forget the xenophobia. Typical._ He found their scholar and quoted himself, resisting the urge to smile as the man with face tattoos finished the quote, then dropped to his knees to surrender, hiding his Sling Ring. "I give up, I'm not gonna fight, this is me surrendering."

His words did nothing to minimize the violence but the scholar's glare put an end to it as he followed them to the throne room. The guards told the king and queen that the human had invaded. The queen asked the scholar "Is that what happened?"

"This human invented the barrier." The king's eyes widened as the scholar continued "Our records tell of an immortal who built the barrier, mixing magic and technology. Proving he is really that man is rather simple." The scholar took a blade from Tony and slashed his throat.

"You just killed him," said the queen when the human went limp.

"I never disputed he was human. If he is who he claims to be, he will heal."

Tony stood up "Yeah, especially if I can guess where the fatal injury will be and apply magic." He escaped the cuffs "Please tell your guards not to hit me. Honestly, I was very clearly surrendering and they still beat me up, basically for making them run." The queen ordered the guards to gather the rest of the family then the immortal said "Much as I hate to do this twice, I'm gonna need names so here goes: hi, I go by Tony these days not whatever my name was back then."

"Tony," the queen introduced everyone as they came in then ended with "Tony, here, is an immortal who helped our ancestors build Attilan."

"No, to be clear, I invented the barrier, I made the first station, your ancestors built everything else. They only let me help as much as they did after trying to kill me about a dozen different ways didn't work." Tony frowned at Maximus "Someone's been screwing with your head. What's your power?"

"I don't have one."

"Ah, they're trying to block it off. Any fool can stack rocks and call it a wall, whoever tried to lock away your power was that kind of fool. I can fix it but aside from seeing your powers are mental, meaning you're most likely some sort of psychic, I have no clue what your gift is. And your head is gonna hurt like hell because the wall is gonna be destroyed on top of mental powers awakening at a bad age."

"How could you fix it?"

"Easy, I can use magic to force you out of your body then push you back. Basically, the wall won't survive that but most psychic powers have a sensory element. Empaths sense and manipulate emotions, telepaths do that with minds, yadda, yadda. You're at a bad age for this but I sorta have to get rid of the wall."

"Why?"

"The wall is like a pile of rocks. Sooner or later, rocks are going to fall off the pile but this wall is in your head, those falling rocks are falling on other parts of your mind. I can either tear down the wall or do some research and fix the wall. I'm partial to the first one but that's more because I hate the kind of manipulation that creates this sort of wall. I'm guessing you'd be heir to the throne right now if your powers hadn't been sealed off like this back when you were transitioning."

"Right."

"So we're agreed, we'll destroy the wall?"

"Yes."

Tony stood straight up and focused, not wanting to be seen attacking the prince made things slightly more difficult because he now had to pull the man out of his own body in astral form. Maximus must have had residual power because he seemed aware of Tony enough to cooperate, astral Tony slapped Black Bolt upside the head before returning to his body. "I got good news and bad news. Good news it worked, bad news I found traces of the same stuff in the king, looks like they were shooting for a human can not rule Inhumans, likely trying to steal the throne."

"Good to know," said Karnak.

"If you don't mind, I don't have time to go through everything so I'm going to alter the barrier to remove the magic and leave whichever one of you escorts me to the nearest station with a briefing on the threat I came here to tell you about. The last thing I need is someone finding out I have magic because time works differently on Earth and the moon."

"Of course," agreed Medusa, the xenophobia working in Tony's favor now. Maximus was able to escort him, likely so Tony could help him adjust to his gifts. Tony returned home exhausted from channeling dark magic after over a hundred years without channeling any kind of magic.


	13. Rogers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Steve go to blows

Somehow Steve getting kicked out of the Spring Break Training Camp was entirely Tony's fault. His centuries of experience with people meant Tony could actually follow Steve's logic, and unfortunately recall a time when he thought similarly. Steve was arguing with Tony when Tony's boyfriend told Steve to go home, ergo Tony had Steve kicked out. "Y'know we met a couple of times during the war?"

"What?"

"As far as I can recall, we never talked but I saw you and you saw me. I was usually standing guard at a door or something, faded right into the background without even trying." Tony sighed "You realize Charles leads the X-Men and Erik, the Maximoff twins' father, leads the Brotherhood? You realize that the X-Men and the Brotherhood are enemies? And yet, Charles allows Erik and some of his people to join us for inter-team training. He let his enemies into his home and they behaved themselves better than you did. Steve, all you have to do is apologize and Charles will let you join us this summer or don't and you can stay at the Compound alone. To be honest, I don't give a damn." Tony walked away from that conversation and Steve tried to stop him, resulting in the super soldier being beaten into the floor before the genius continued on his way, "FRIDAY, make a note, I need to get a restraining order against Steve. And call Pepper, tell her we need to ban Steve Rogers from all SI properties, except for the Avengers Compound. Starting with the Helicarrier, collect data on patterns of abuse shown by the Avengers. I want to be ready when Rogers crosses the line. Lastly, set up an automated reminder for everyone invited to summer training, let them know Charles offer still stands. Let's set it for two weeks before the start of training. Are the twins enrolled?"

"Yes, Boss... to everything."

"I guess I'll have to wait to approach them with an offer to join then. In the meantime," Tony was stretched his arms above his head, "I believe I have a meeting with a Mr. Parker."

"Yes, you do."

"Do I have time to drive or should I sling there?"

"Perhaps you should sling to the Tower and drive from there."

"Sounds good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme know what you think and if you have any ideas for this fic, I always welcome suggestions.


End file.
